chapter XV, many statements need considerable correction, v. g., the

assertion that before the Reformation “the large majority of the people felt no need of education and took little interest in it.” With this should be compared the authors from whom we quoted on p. 23 _sqq._ On p. 172, Mr. Kemp repeats Green’s assertions about the Grammar schools founded by Henry VIII. But Mr. Arthur F. Leach has proved, from incontestable documents, that this is a pure myth, and that the statements of Green and Mullinger are a distortion of the historical facts. In his _English Schools at the Reformation_ (Westminster, Archibald Constable, 1896), Mr. Leach says: “The records appended to this book show that close on 200 Grammar [secondary] schools existed in England before the reign of Edward VI., which were, for the most part, abolished or crippled under him.... It will appear, however, that these records are defective.... three hundred Grammar schools is a moderate estimate of the number in the year 1535, when the floods of the great revolution were let loose. Most of them were swept away either under Henry or his son; or if not swept away, they were plundered and damaged” (pp. 5-6). Of the character of these schools the author says that they were not mere “monkish” schools, but secondary schools of exactly the same type as the secondary schools of the present day. Considering the population of England at the time, there were previous to the Reformation more higher schools in England than at present; in Herefordshire, v. g., 17 higher schools for a population of 30,000! Nearly every town had a higher school. (_Ib._, 99-100.) Mr. Leach confesses that his researches revolutionize the traditional view of pre-Reformation schools in England, and that on this account his book was looked upon unfavorably by some people.--We call attention to these facts, because they show how the current tradition has influenced men who earnestly endeavor to be impartial. Had all American writers been animated by the spirit of fair-mindedness and zeal for correct information which distinguished that excellent American educator, and first U. S. Commissioner of Education, Henry Barnard, the cause of truth and justice would have been better served in this country.